Thursday, September 30, 2010

Stella Artois, A Thing of Beauty

BLF is at it again. While I love a good ad bust, I prefer an ad takeover, in particular when the advertisement is in public space. This in no way diminishes my love for the BLF and their continued pressures on the outdoor advertising and billboard industry. Although my thoughts on the matter are that as a culture we are well aware of the manipulative aspects of the commercial advertising world. While we may question the motivations, tactics, we rarely question the mediums right to be in our shared public spaces. By critiquing public advertisements, the ad remains up, although criticized, it is still affective in delivering a brand recognition. As they say, "any press is good press", even when it is negative, and I think this notion applies to outdoor advertising as well. Any impression is a good impression, regardless of whether it is gained through an unaltered billboard or one which subtly critiques the desire machine. Anyways, just my thoughts. Whether you alter ads, take them down, or replace them, interacting with a media that has overwhelmed your public space without your permission is a good deed and one that should not go unnoticed.

We at the BLF have been assisting fatigued advertising copywriters to strengthen their corporate messages for over thirty years. Advertising is the language of our Culture, as BLF CEO Jack Napier noted almost as many years ago. And the primary use of language is to to communicate ideas. The most efficient and direct communication of an idea comes through the most elegant use of the least amount of words to communicate that idea. It’s quite clear from the image in this Stella Artois billboard ad what the message IS. The BLF merely wishes to assist this campaign by paring down the words in order to match that message most perfectly. - BLF Education Officer, R.O. Thornhill. [More Here]